Pierre André Latreille | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1762-11-29)29 November 1762 |
| Died | 6 February 1833(1833-02-06) (aged 70) Paris, Kingdom of France |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Entomology,arachnology,carcinology |
| Institutions | Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | Latreille |
Pierre André Latreille (French pronunciation:[pjɛʁɑ̃dʁelatʁɛj]; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a Frenchzoologist, specialising inarthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before theFrench Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained his freedom after recognising a rarebeetlespecies he found in the prison,Necrobia ruficollis.[1]
He published his first important work,Précis des caractères génériques des insectes, in 1796, and was eventually employed by theMuséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. His foresighted work on arthropodsystematics andtaxonomy gained him respect and accolades, including being asked to write the volume on insects forGeorge Cuvier's monumental work,Le Règne Animal, the only part not by Cuvier himself.
Latreille was considered the foremostentomologist of his time, and was described by one of his pupils as "the prince of entomologists".
Pierre André Latreille was born on 29 November 1762 in the town ofBrive, then in theprovince of Limousin, as theillegitimate child of Jean Joseph Sahuguet d'Amarzit, général baron d'Espagnac, who never recognised him, and an unknown mother, who abandoned him at birth; the surname "Latreille" was formally granted to him in 1813, and derives from anickname of unclear provenance.[2] Latreille, effectively orphaned from his earliest age, but had influential protectors – first a physician, then a merchant from Brive, and later a baron (after the baron's death), who brought him to Paris in 1778.[1]
He studied initially in Brive and inParis at theCollège du Cardinal-Lemoine attached to theUniversity of Paris to become apriest.[2] He entered theGrand Séminaire ofLimoges in 1780, and left as adeacon in 1786. Despite being qualified to preach, Latreille later wrote that he had never carried out his functions as a minister, although for a few years he signed the letters he wrote "l'Abbé Latreille" ("the Reverend Latreille") or "Latreille, Prêtre" ("Latreille, Priest").[2]
Even during his studies, Latreille had taken on an interest innatural history, visiting theJardin du Roi planted byGeorges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, andcatching insects around Paris. He received lessons onbotany fromRené Just Haüy, which brought him in contact withJean-Baptiste Lamarck.[2]
After the fall of theAncien Régime and the start of theFrench Revolution, theCivil Constitution of the Clergy was declared in 1790, which required priests to swear an oath of allegiance to the state. Latreille failed to do so and was therefore imprisoned in November 1793 under threat of execution.[2]
When the prison's doctor inspected the prisoners, he was surprised to find Latreille scrutinising a beetle on the dungeon floor.[1] When Latreille explained that it was a rare insect, the physician was impressed, and sent the insect to a 15-year-old local naturalist,Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent. Bory de St.-Vincent knew Latreille's work, and managed to obtain the release of Latreille and one of his cell-mates.[1] Latreille and Bory de Saint-Vincent remained life-long friends.[3] The beetle had been described byJohan Christian Fabricius in 1775,[4] but recognising it had saved Latreille from likely demise, as all the other inmates were dead within one month.[1]
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Thereafter, Latreille lived as a teacher and corresponded with various entomologists, including Fabricius. In 1796, and with Fabricius' encouragement, Latreille published hisPrécis des caractères génériques des insectes at his own expense. He was briefly placed underhouse arrest in 1797, and his books were confiscated, but the influence ofGeorges Cuvier,Bernard Germain de Lacépède and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (who all held chairs of zoology at the recently institutedMuséum national d'Histoire naturelle) succeeded in freeing Latreille.[2] In 1798, Latreille was appointed to the Muséum, where he worked alongside Lamarck, curating the arthropod collections, and published a number of zoological works.[2]
Following the death of the entomologistGuillaume-Antoine Olivier in 1814, Latreille succeeded him as titular member of theAcadémie des sciences de l'Institut de France.[2] In the following few years, Latreille was especially productive, producing important papers for theMémoires du Muséum, all of the volume on arthropods forGeorge Cuvier'sLe Règne Animal ("The Animal Kingdom", 1817), and hundreds of entries in theNouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle on entomological subjects.[2] In 1819, Latreille was elected as a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society inPhiladelphia.[5] As Lamarck became blind, Latreille took on an increasing proportion of his teaching and research work. In 1821, Latreille was made a knight of theLégion d'honneur.[2] In 1829 he succeeded Lamarck as professor of entomology.[6]
From 1824, Latreille's health deteriorated. He handed his lectures over toJean Victoire Audouin and took on several assistants for his research work, includingAmédée Louis Michel Lepeletier,Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville andFélix Édouard Guérin-Méneville.[2] He was instrumental in the founding of theSociété entomologique de France, and served as its honorary president.[2]
Latreille's wife became ill in 1830 and died in May of that year; the date of Latreille's marriage is unclear, and his request to be released from hisvow of celibacy was never acknowledged.[2] He resigned his position at the museum on 10 April 1832, in order to move to the country and thereby avoid thecholera epidemic. He returned to Paris in November, and died ofbladder disease on 6 February 1833.[2] He had no children but was survived by a niece whom he had adopted.[1]
TheSociété entomologique raised the money to pay for a monument to Latreille. This was erected over Latreille's grave atPère Lachaise Cemetery (39th division),[7] and comprised a 9-foot (2.7 m)obelisk with various inscriptions, including one to the beetle which had saved Latreille's life: "Necrobia ruficollis Latreillii salvator" ("Necrobia ruficollis, Latreille's saviour").[1]
As testimony to the high esteem in which Latreille was held, many books werededicated to him, and up to 163 species were named in his honour between 1798 and 1850.[2]Taxa commemorating Latreille include:[8]
Latreille produced a significant body of scientific work, extending across several fields. He was described byJohan Christian Fabricius asentomologorum nostri aevi princeps ("the foremost entomologist of our time"), and byJean Victoire Audouin asEntomologiae Princeps ("the prince of entomology").[2]
Latreille was significant as the first person to attempt a natural classification of the arthropods.[9] His "eclectic method" ofsystematics incorporated evidence from all available characters without assuming a pre-defined goal; Latreille repeatedly dismissedanthropocentrism andteleology.[2]
As well as manyspecies and countlessgenera, the names of many highertaxa are also attributable to Latreille, includingThysanura,Siphonaptera,Ostracoda,Stomatopoda,Xiphosura, andMyriapoda.[2]
Although Latreille named many species, his primary interest was in describing genera.[2] He introduced the concept of the "type species", a species to which the name of a genus is firmly attached.[2] Similarly, he favoured the method of naming families after one of the constituent genera, rather than some defining feature of the group, implicitly designating atype genus for the family.[2]
